D is for dropping: school grades plummet

In this March 18, 2013 file photo, Shady Hill Elementary School fifth-grader Gray Albright, left, whispers to his partner, Christopher Armstrong, right, a possible word while competing against two other Sparr Elementary School students in a game of Scrabble. Shady Hill is one of four Marion County elementary schools to earn an A grade this year.

The performance might have been worse: Because of shifting requirements, the state Board of Education recently decided that, out of fairness, no school could drop more than one letter grade this year.

Only elementary and middle schools got their grades on Friday. They were based largely on FCAT scores. High school grades won't be released until November or December.

The state has implemented higher achievement levels on many FCAT and end-of-course exams. In all, there have been 13 changes made this year and 19 the year before.

The result: It's difficult to compare grades from year to year, since schools are adjusting to the new scales and expectations.

School officials statewide expected their districts would suffer, and the fear was justified: According to the state, the number of “A” schools dropped from 48 percent to 29 percent while the number of “F” schools increased from 2 percent to 4 percent.

“We saw this was coming,” said Janet Weldon, Marion County's director of guidance and student assessment.

“It's good to expect more of students,” she added. But, by the same token, it will take time for schools and teachers to adjust.

Of 30 elementary schools, 24 dropped one letter grade. (McIntosh Area did not receive a grade.)

<p>Talk about D-Day.</p><p>The state <a href="http://www.ocala.com/article/99999999/MULTIMEDIA/130729786" target="_blank">issued grades for elementary and middle schools on Friday</a>, and 13 of them fell to D level.</p><p>Another 13 dropped from B to C level. One school maintained its C.</p><p>Nine schools earned a B and only four got an A.</p><p>The performance might have been worse: Because of shifting requirements, the state Board of Education recently decided that, out of fairness, no school could drop more than one letter grade this year.</p><hr />
<a href="http://www.ocala.com/article/99999999/MULTIMEDIA/130729786" target="_blank"><img src="http://ocala.com/assets/jpg/OS27582726.JPG" style="margin: 0 0 0 100px;position:relative;"/></a><br>
<hr /><p>Only elementary and middle schools got their grades on Friday. They were based largely on FCAT scores. High school grades won't be released until November or December.</p><p>The state has implemented higher achievement levels on many FCAT and end-of-course exams. In all, there have been 13 changes made this year and 19 the year before.</p><p>The result: It's difficult to compare grades from year to year, since schools are adjusting to the new scales and expectations.</p><p>School officials statewide expected their districts would suffer, and the fear was justified: According to the state, the number of “A” schools dropped from 48 percent to 29 percent while the number of “F” schools increased from 2 percent to 4 percent.</p><p>“We saw this was coming,” said Janet Weldon, Marion County's director of guidance and student assessment.</p><p>“It's good to expect more of students,” she added. But, by the same token, it will take time for schools and teachers to adjust.</p><p>Of 30 elementary schools, 24 dropped one letter grade. (McIntosh Area did not receive a grade.)</p><p>Eighth Street Elementary, Madison Street Academy, Dr. N.H. Jones Elementary and Shady Hill Elementary all maintained their A grades.</p><p>Ward-Highlands kept its B and Reddick-Collier kept its C.</p><p>As for middle schools, all eight dropped one letter grade, including four into the D category.</p><p>Two combination schools, Fort McCoy and Horizon Academy, both dropped from B to C.</p><p>The School District as a whole earned a C grade, same as 2012.</p><p><i>Contact Jim Ross at 671-6412 or jim.ross@ocala.com. Follow him on Twitter @jimross96.</i></p>